Take Flight
by HeartAuror
Summary: Suzume is an Uchiha whose mother always told her she was a sparrow born to fly. Yet, now that she's been taking in by the main house she feels liked a caged bird. OC
1. Prologue

**AN: This is just something short and sweet that I came up with on the fly.**

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"Again." I struggled against the pain in my abdomen to listen to my uncle's command. My bare feet slapped across the tatami mats as I rushed toward him with my fist raised. Uncle simply grabbed my hand and spun it around to send me sprawling on the ground.

After a heavy sigh uncle dismissed me and I slunk back to my room.

"Itoko." I looked up at the sound of my cousin's voice only to lower it again in shame. I felt a hand on each of my shoulders and Itachi's face blocked my view of the ground. "Suzume."

"Yes, Itachi-sama?" I asked tentatively.

"Let's go on a walk." He straightened from his crouch and held his hand out to me."

I grasped on to his hand firmly. "Yeah!"

Itachi took me where he always did: the park. First I climbed the jungle gym the balance at the very top. I stretched my arms out to allow the wind to freely flow through my pitch black hair. I jumped down to stand as straightly as possible on the swing. As I got the swing moving my mother's words echoed in my mind.

_"Suzume, you are a sparrow. You were born to soar. Spread your wings to fly and smile all the way."_

All too soon it was time to go back. I couldn't help but wonder how I could fly in the cage of the Uchiha main house.

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**AN: So, I'm not sure if I'll be continuing this. I'm more focused on A New Life right now and I'm not sure if I want to try balancing two stories just yet. But I'd still love to hear what you guys think.  
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	2. Itachi's Shadow

**AN: Yeah, so I have decided to continue this because it's floating around in my head and it's difficult to focus with it there.**

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I was crammed into a large crowd for my entrance ceremony at age six. I constantly looked to Fugaku for some sort of encouragement, but he was stone-faced as always. When the ceremony ended I went to stand beside my stoic uncle. Most of the children left to go back home after the ceremony and I was ready to leave too. However Fugaku walked over to talk with the senseis so I tried my best to be just far enough behind my uncle that he didn't realize I was hiding. I wasn't good enough and he shot me a disapproving look, but said nothing while talking to a slightly overweight sensei.

"So this Itachi's cousin. I remember teaching him. I'm she'll also be an excellent Shinobi."

"Yes, thanks for taking care of them."

"It was nothing really. There hasn't been such genius at the academy since. There wasn't much need for my care."

"Isn't that flattery a bit much?" I looked up at Fugaku curiously. Since when did he not like praise?

The sensei laughed. "No no… You should expect this from them, huh?"

Fugaku smirked and met my eyes, "Work hard and become a fine shinobi like your cousin." I returned my gaze to my feet. His tone was condescending, almost like a challenge.

I trailed behind my uncle as we walked home. The Uchiha compound was at the edge of the village and neither of us made a sound during the entire trip. My shoulders visibly relaxed when the house came into view, but I didn't smile until I saw Sasuke waving at us with his childish grin.

"Welcome back!"

I let myself fall on the veranda next to where Sasuke had been sitting, but now he was flitting around me like a fly. "Come on, Suzume!" He whined. "Let's do something!" He grabbed my hand and tugged it in an attempt to make me stand. "Let's practice Shuriken-jutsu. You're good at that!"

"Alright." I said and allowed him to drag me into a standing position.

"Suzume." I flinced and turned to face my uncle.

"Yes?"

"I suspect you wont spend all of your free time playing games."

"Yes, oji-sama." I responded with a nod.

The moment he walked away I rushed with Sasuke to one of the many private Uchiha training grounds. I inspected each of my kunai before letting one sail. As it hit the wood with a 'thunk' I felt the beginnings on a genuine smile on my face.

I threw another and another. Each one added to a circle I was forming around the first.

"Suzume?" I jumped at the sound of Sasuke's voice. I scowled at my kunai that had flown wildly off-target. While my other kunai were by no means perfect they were much more on target than the one I had thrown while distracted.

I tore my gaze away from my target and turned to my younger cousin. "What's up?"

"Can you help me with my throwing technique?" Seeing the blush forming on his cheeks my gaze softened and I smiled at him.

"Of course."

Before showing him proper throwing technique I examined his grip. Noticing how tightly he held his kunai I helped him make adjustments accordingly.

I threw my kunai as an example for him. After that it was up to him to get a 'feel' for it. I gave him a few tips after each throw, but for the most part he picked it up on his own.

Itachi walked me to class the next morning. I held his hand the entire way. As we got closer to the academy I opened my mouth several times to speak only to change my mind and close it just as many times.

"What's on your mind?" Of course Itachi wasn't one to miss anything.

"It's just that…" I paused and knit my eyebrows together. "What if I fail?" I finally continued. "Oji-sama will be angry. What if he hates me? What if _everyone _hates me?"

Itachi stopped walking and crouched down to face-level with me. He had to tilt my head up from the ground to make eye-contact before he talked. "You'll do fine. Tou-san cares very deeply for you so don't worry. Just do your best."

I forced a smile, "Alright."

Itachi grabbed my nose and wiggled it causing me to grin like a fool. "There's my girl. Just be yourself."

"Okay." I said, this time with the same grin I gave him during our trips to the park.

I managed to walk into the classroom maintaining the confidence itachi had given me.

"Is that an Uchiha?"

"I think so."

"She must be pretty awesome."

_No. No don't do that. Don't compare me to Itachi. I'm not a genius. Please don't judge me based on the clan symbol on my back._

I couldn't voice my thoughts. All I dared to do was sit in the back to avoid their expectant stares. How was I supposed to overcome the impossibly large shadow of a genius? It was useless. So why should I even try?

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**AN: I hoped you liked it. I've decided to write this entirely on a notebook before transferring to my laptop as an experiment to see how it effects my writing style. As a result I will probably have shorter paragraphs and chapters because they look longer on a notebook. I will attempt to improve at least the length of my chapters though I'm still contemplating how I feel about the length of my paragraphs. **

**Please review, constructive criticism is always welcome :)**

**I'm still trying to focus on A New Life for those who also read that.**


	3. Working Past Failure

**AN: Another short chapter, but they might get longer as I get a better feel for the story :) **

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The academy report cards never gave an actual grade; it was all class ranking. That's why grades are rarely surprising. Yet, despite having been in the same class for six months and watching me fail time and time again, my classmates were shocked that an Uchiha's grades were decidedly average.

When I presented these grades to my uncle I didn't dare look at him.

"Where does the Hyuuga boy rank?"

I swallowed and forced out, "Top of the class."

He was silent for several seconds that seemed to stretch on for hours. I could feel his gaze bore into me so I kept my head bowed hoping it would shield me from his gaze. "An Uchiha should never allow a Hyuuga claim to be their better."

"Yes, Oji-sama."

If it were any other time I'm sure my uncle would not have let me off so easy. However, given Itachi's recent promotion to Chuunin he was more forgiving, or rather, uninterested in my less than satisfactory grades. He simply dismissed me saying, "Work harder to become a fine shinobi like your cousin."

"Yes, oji-sama."

I didn't glance at him as I left the room knowing I would regret seeing the look in his eyes if I did. I trudged silently to my room and remained there until I grew restless. Itching for something to do I grabbed my ninja gear and headed out to one of the training grounds.

Training. That's what Fugaku wanted me to do. But I did train. I trained every day. True, shuriken-jutsu was my favorite and that's what I worked hardest on, but I sparred with Sasuke and even worked on the E-rank jutsus they taught us like the replacement and clone jutsus. I just wasn't good enough. Neji never looked like he tried and it was so frustrating. What was I supposed to do? I couldn't go to anyone outside the clan for help because an Uchiha shouldn't _need_ help. And inside the clan I was just a useless little girl who lost her parents.

I had been taking out all of my pent up frustrations on one of the training posts, and by the time I was done it had new indents scattered across it. The sun was setting by the time I dragged myself home. "My you're home late."

"Oji-sama told me to train." I explained to Mikoto.

My aunt put a hand to her cheek and tsked, "That man…" She seemed embarrassed for a second that she said it out loud. "What do you say I teach you something he can't."

"What?" I asked warily.

Cooking wasn't nearly as easy as Mikoto made it seem. I had to keep track of how hot the stove was, if all my ingredients were mixed together properly, and how pink or black my meat was. My head was spinning by the time I finished making the meal and I was pretty sure Mikoto had done most of the work.

After we served the food and sat down for dinner I was hyper aware of how the food looked and tasted. Was that meat black? Was the rice too sticky? Was the flavor spread evenly? If the boys noticed anything different they didn't say anything, but it was only after I examined each of their faces carefully and determined none of them were disgusted by my food that I began to eat my own.

I remained at the table after the boys had already left, sitting silently. It was a relief when Mikoto asked me to help with the dishes. I remained silent as I helped gather them from the table, but after getting into a steady rhythm of drying and putting away the dishes that she washed I felt calmer and ready to speak.

"Oba-sama - "

"There's no need to be so formal dear." She cut me off. "We may be the head family, but here, I'm just your aunt."

"Oba," I began again. "Thank you for teaching me to cook, and I was wondering if…"

"What is it?" Mikoto asked during my nervous pause.

My questions spilled past my lips all at once and perhaps a little too quickly. "Is it alright if I help make breakfast tomorrow, and can I help make my lunch for academy, too?"

Still, she only laughed and said, "Of course! That would be wonderful. I'll have to wake you up early, though. Is that alright?"

"Yes." I responded with a smile. "Thank you."

I never thought about just how early Mikoto got up to prepare breakfast. She was cheerful all the time so you would think that she got the most sleep out of all of us. Even when she woke me up that morning she seemed wide awake despite the sun barely beginning to rise.

We started working on my lunch first; breakfast would come later so that it was still warm as people woke up. She was patient as I slowly worked away my drowsiness, and she set me to work on simple tasks at first such as getting water and measuring rice. It wasn't until I finally stopped yawning that she let me cut the vegetables.

By the time the boys woke up I was as awake as Mikoto and everybody but Fugaku seemed to surprised to see me. I smiled at them, "breakfast is ready." It was nice to have people cheerfully eating the food I had made, and nicer still to feel like I had finally done something my uncle could appreciate.

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**AN: I hope you all like it so far. I would love some reviews even something simple would be great, and of course constructive criticism is always welcome :)**


	4. Picking up the Pieces

**AN: Yay, a longer chapter :) I'm proud of myself :D**

**Special thanks to Kiara97. She's my first reviewer and I'm super happy somebody like this. All the virtual cookies to her XD**

**For those of you who don't know a bo is a wooden staff.**

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The ending of my first year was the beginning of Sasuke's. From that point on any attention Fugaku had paid to me shifted to Sasuke. Itachi changed and distanced himself from the clan and even Sasuke began to spend all of his time training.

Maybe I should have expected it. I should have known Fugaku would care more for his own, far more talented, children. But I was lonely.

Mikoto did her best to make me feel cared for, and I still helped her make all of the meals to show my appreciation. But we both knew it wasn't enough.

In class my eyes stared straight ahead but didn't see anything. By the time sensei's voice reached my ears the words no longer carried any meaning. Class no longer meant anything to me and my grades dropped accordingly.

My grades continued to plummet to the point that the trainee sensei, Akane, asked me to stay after class. "Is something wrong?" She asked with worry creeping into her voice.

"No." It was an unspoken rule among Uchiha that non-clansman didn't deserve to know how we were feeling.

Akane gave me an incredulous look. "Alright, you don't have to tell me anything. But, you do have to accompany me outside."

We didn't go farther than the academy training grounds. Once there, she grabbed two bōs. She threw the shorter one at me and held the other defensively in front of herself. "Try to hit me."

I looked at the bō in my hand before swinging it at her. She easily deflected it with her own and my bō began to spiral out of my hand.

"You're holding it wrong." Akane scolded. "It's a bō not a sword." She held her bō out in front of her with her fists grasping where one would cut to split the wood into thirds; her right hand faced upward while her left faced down. "Hold it like this and try again."

I followed Akane's instruction and my blows became sturdier. Suddenly striking at her became easy, and my anger intensified with each time she blocked. I was angry at her for blocking me. Angry at Fugaku for ignoring me. Angry at Itachi for having no time for me. Angry at Sasuke for being better than me. I was even angry at Mikoto for always being able to smile.

_SMACK SMACK SMACK! _The sound of wood on wood continued to echo in my ears until I fell onto the ground, exhausted. Akane leaned over me with a grin. She hadn't even broken a sweat and her blue eyes sparkled with amusement.

"Not bad. We'll have to work on your footwork though."

I gave her a bewildered look, and between my panting breaths I managed to voice, "What?"

Her grin didn't falter, "Well you didn't think I brought you out here for nothing did you? I've been wanting to take on an apprentice, even if I am only Chuunin."

I tried to keep a stoic face and decline like a proper Uchiha, but failed miserably and only managed to gape at her like a fish.

She sighed heavily and placed a hand on her hip, "Look Suzume, I don't know anything about being a big clan kid. But I do know a thing or two about pent up anger. How do you feel now?"

I had been paying to much attention to my aching arms to notice before, but after she mentioned it I noticed how much calmer I felt. Realizing she was still waiting for an answer I responded, "better."

"Good!" she chirped. "Then we can meet up here again tomorrow." I knit my eyebrows together but before I could respond she spoke again, "Nah-uh. You're coming even if I have to drag you."

I frowned but nodded. It would be better to accept than have the whole village see me dragged away by this woman.

Training with Akane had become a regular occurrence. She began to take up more and more of my time using her forceful nature. She even insisted that I share my grades with her, and with her tutelage my grades began to climb out of the gutter I had pushed them into.

Fugaku didn't pay my grades any mind, but Itachi gave me a small smile before leaving on yet another mission. I began to spar with Sasuke again despite him beating me more often than not. Maybe life wasn't perfect, but it was better. That was, until my third year in the academy not long after I turned eight.

Sasuke was more determined than ever to become strong and he was curious as to how my grades jumped so quickly. It had taken me a while to gain the courage, but I finally decided that he would be the first person I would introduce to Akane. Sasuke was eager to show off the jutsu Fugaku had taught him. I felt jealous, because after all, the Grand Fireball jutsu was a rite of passage in the Uchiha clan. Akane placed her bō to the side and gave me a wink that I knew was her trying to show me that I had my own special ability. I gave her small smile in response, but I think she knew that I was still disappointed. She frowned, and I was pretty sure she didn't fully understand what the Grand Fireball meant to me. Still, I did my best to put on a good face for Sasuke's sake, and after a few spars I was feeling a bit better.

I left before Sasuke, explaining that I had promised to help Mikoto make supper. The scene I saw when I arrived could not have been worse. Bodies of my clansmen littered the streets, and when I rushed into the main house I saw Itachi strike down and kill my aunt and uncle.

I took a nervous step back, "I-itoko-sama? Why?" The honorifics were so deeply ingrained into my being that they came out even after all that I saw.

Itachi looked at me with emotionless eyes, "You're barely an Uchiha. You wouldn't even be worth testing my skills on."

"Wha-" before I could finish the word I felt pain in my head and black clouded my vision. I was out before I even hit the ground.

When I woke up I wasn't immediately sure where I was. It took me a minute to realize I was in the Konoha hospital. It was strange being in a bed other than my own.

As I sat up a woman I hadn't realized was there spoke, "Oh, you're awake."

I turned, but didn't really look at her. "Oji-sama…" It was strange that he was the first person to cross my mind. Yet, he was the one I had always looked up to.

The nurse's frown was obviously pity rather than sadness. "He's gone dear, sorry." She gave me a small smile, "Your cousin, Sasuke, is alive though. He could wake up any time now."

I looked away from her and my gaze fell to my lap. Itachi had said that I was barely an Uchiha and he was right. I had known all along that I didn't have the talent of the rest of my clansmen. Fugaku had already dismissed any possibility of me becoming strong enough for the Uchiha name long ago. I knew he did even if he never voiced it out loud.

Sasuke woke up a few hours later and a nurse took me to see him. His gaze was emptier than mine and it felt like looking into a mirror.

I walked to the side of his bed and swallowed several times before finding my voice, "Sasuke…"

He turned to me but I could tell his gaze went straight through me. I knew he couldn't see me and it gave my emotions the final push they needed to get past the barrier I had put up. It was slow tears at first, but before I knew it I was sobbing on Sasuke's lap.

I was shocked to feel a hand on my head. I lifted my head to stare at Sasuke. His eyes were just as empty, but he spoke, "Don't cry." I continued to stare at him. I was the older one; I should have been the one comforting _him._ I wiped the tears from my eyes. Maybe I wasn't a proper Uchiha, but I vowed that day that I would at least protect Sasuke.

The door slid open and I looked over to see an open-mouthed Akane. "Suzume," she gasped. She rushed over to me and pulled me into a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry."

I wanted to stay in the comfort of her arms, but instead I pushed away from her. I stared her dead in the eye and asked, "Will you train me?"

"But-"

"I need to get stronger." For once it was me who did the interrupting.

She seemed conflicted but finally answered, "Yes."

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It was four years until I graduated, four grueling years where I trained day and night with Akane. The only time I spent at home was when I cooked meals for Sasuke or when Akane was on a mission. My grades climbed faster than they ever had and I managed to rank in the top third of a class with thirty people. Sasuke was frustrated that I was graduating a year ahead of him because I was older so I promised I would teach him anything new I learned as a genin.

Orientation was nearly a month after graduation. Akane tried to convince me to use that time to take a break, but I used it to spar with Sasuke. My training with Akane helped me to finally surpass him, but he caught up quickly. While I still beat him eight times out of ten he progressed quickly and the matches were close. I had no doubts that he would be the stronger one of the two of us.

When orientation finally did come around I was surprised to hear we were going to be divided into three man squads. I was sure they never mentioned anything about it in class. I scanned the classroom wondering who they would place me with. I didn't have to wait long to hear my name called out. I was placed on Team 3 along with Tanaka, Haru and Kato, Akira. I looked at the two of them trying to remember how they performed in class. Haru was a taller boy with dark brown hair and eyes. He never particularly stood out in class, and I was pretty sure he was civilian-born. Akira was much smaller and his hair was a lighter shade of brown with a few blond strands. Kato was a minor clan in Konoha, but I didn't know very much about them because they didn't have any strong connections with the Uchihas.

I was planning to eat lunch alone, but I was stopped by Haru. "Yo, Uchiha."

"Hn?"

"It looks like we're going to be teammates from now on. May as well get to know each other." He brought his hand to the back of his neck. "So, you wanna eat lunch together?"

I shrugged, "sure."

We invited Akira as well who accepted with a wide smile and the three of us took our bento to the roof.

"Wow!" Akira gasped. "The view from here is amazing!"

"Haven't you ever been on a roof before?" Haru asked.

"Not this one." Akira said, not looking away from the edge. "I wonder what the village looks like from the Hokage faces."

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say 'exactly like this, but smaller.'" Haru drawled.

"But think about it," Akira spread his arms out wide as if he were going to hug the village. "All of our training until now has been for this. So we can defend the village."

"Well you're a romantic." Haru observed.

Akira flushed but before he could speak I said, "If you don't eat now lunch will be over before you're done."

Akira gasped and finally sat down, but instead of eating he stared inquisitively at me. Then he began to speak a mile a minute, "So you _do _talk. Well, I was sure you did, but you're always so quiet in class, and I wasn't sure if you had a reason. Well, obviously you had a reason but I meant-"

"Dude." Haru interrupted for me. "Give the girl some air."

"Oh, sorry." Akira flushed again.

I smiled at him, "No, it's fine." He reminded me of when Sasuke was younger. "Though you really should eat your food."

"Right." He said while finally opening his bento. "Speaking of food, yours looks great. Your mom must be a fantastic cook."

"I wouldn't know." I said quietly while looking back at my lap.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean…"

I shook my head and forced a smile, "Don't worry about it. It was a long time ago."

We ate our lunch in silence after that and we were all relieved when it finally ended.

After lunch we went back to wait for our sensei. The senseis for each team came in one at a time, but none of them left much of an impression after the first one came bursting through the door in green spandex shouting something about 'youth'. Fortunately our sensei, a woman with long brown hair wearing the standard jounin uniform, was one of the first few to come in. She led us to an empty classroom where she sat on top of the desk in front and gestured for us to sit at the student benches.

"My name is Atarashi, Reika. My goal from this day onward is to shape you three into excellent shinobi of the Hidden Leaf. Now, I would like you three to introduce yourselves and share your goals."

Akira was more than happy to start us off, "I'm Kato, Akira. My goal is to learn as much as I can while protecting Konoha."

Sensei nodded at turned to Haru. "My name is Tanaka, Haru and I want to create a clan to rival all the others in the village so it can be known around the world."

I was surprised, but sensei only turned to me. I blinked away my disbelief and spoke, "I am Uchiha, Suzume. I will become a shinobi worthy of my clan and serve the clan head dutifully." When I was younger I wanted to protect Sasuke but it had become painfully obvious he could protect himself. Serving him was as close as I could get to the vow I had made that day.

Sensei nodded, "Alright, now that we've been acquainted I can tell you this."

"What?" Akira questioned.

"There is one more test you must pass before you may truly call yourself ninja."

"What do you mean!" Demanded Haru. "Then why'd you give us headbands?"

"Calm down." Sensei said. "It's a simple survival test. Surely you can handle that?"

Haru was still glaring but said, "Fine."

"Good. Meet me back here at seven tomorrow. You may inform your families that you'll be gone for two days. Dismissed."

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**AN: So, this is my longest chapter yet :) Hopefully they'll get longer. Introducing four characters in one chapter is harder than I thought XD**

**Anyway, please review they make my day and I love to hear what you guys think :D**

**And Happy Easter for those who celebrate it :)**


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